At a time when many acts are producing electronic, disco influenced tracks, with ‘Rock Dust Light Star’ (November, Mercury Records) Jamiroquai have moved on from the sound they helped popularize and reverted to a more organic, live sound..
The shift is one that has revitalized the band, and produced their most engaging, vital album in years. In singer Jay Kay’s words ‘Everything on the record is live. It’s a real band record. The last, album – fantastic – but the whole thing became a little sterile. This time we’ve captured the flow of our live performances’. The album has been recorded mainly at Jay’s home studio in Buckinghamshire, and also at legendary Hook End Manor in Oxfordshire. The album is entirely written by Kay and his Jamiroquai bandmates and produced by Kay alongside first time collaborators Charlie Russell and Brad Spence.
The first taster of the album will be the rattling groove of ‘White Knuckle Ride’; available only on strictly limited edition vinyl prior to the album, it’s a hi-octane retrospective on Jay’s career experiences - a cautionary tale equally applicable to anyone’s life in these pressure cooker times. This will be followed by lead single ‘Blue Skies’ (released November), an epic, blissful, sun-kissed Californian mid tempo song with lush string arrangements and perhaps Kay’s most emotive vocal to date - pure class.
Now at the start of a new chapter, Jamiroquai are a band on fire (as witnessed by those who saw their Hyde Park Show with Stevie Wonder this summer), led by one of the most charismatic frontmen Britain has ever produced, with a shelf full of awards, including five MTV gongs, an Ivor Novello and a Grammy to name but a few. ‘I do feel rejuvenated, music-wise and business-wise’ Jay says. He was ‘physically knackered’ after completing his previous seven album record deal, but now ‘everything has clicked and I feel privileged to still be in the game.” In the game and on top of it. Jamiroquai are back.
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